Easthill's ring is short of a stone. Eight survive in an oval roughly three and three-quarter miles south-west of Dumfries, and a ninth is thought to have once completed the circuit, making it a small circle by the standards of the region. Local usage gave the group another name, the Seven Grey Stanes, a count that sits below the number now visible on the ground.
Easthill’s ring is short of a stone. Eight survive in an oval roughly three and three-quarter miles south-west of Dumfries, and a ninth is thought to have once completed the circuit, making it a small circle by the standards of the region. Local usage gave the group another name, the Seven Grey Stanes, a count that sits below the number now visible on the ground.
Despite its modest size, the monument belongs to a recognisable local tradition. Its oval shape and its orientation align it with the larger ovals of Dumfriesshire, and in particular with the nearby Twelve Apostles. The circle carries the grid reference NX91937388 and is protected as a scheduled monument.
What follows is drawn from published sources, with each claim labelled by how firmly it is established.
History
Easthill stone circle stands as one of a group of oval stone settings in Dumfriesshire, a form that distinguishes the local prehistoric monuments from the true circles found elsewhere in Britain. Eight stones remain in position at the site, with a probable ninth once completing the ring. Though considerably smaller than the region's major examples, the circle shares its oval plan and its orientation with the larger Dumfriesshire ovals, most notably the nearby Twelve Apostles. This resemblance places Easthill within the same building tradition rather than treating it as an isolated setting.
The monument is recorded at grid reference NX91937388, some three and three-quarter miles south-west of Dumfries, and is designated a scheduled monument, giving it statutory legal protection.
Cultural influences
-
Easthill’s oval plan and orientation link it to the distinctive Dumfriesshire tradition of oval stone settings, especially the nearby Twelve Apostles.
Connections
-
Photo: August Schwerdfeger / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 4.0 A nearby and larger oval stone circle in Dumfriesshire; Easthill's shape and orientation link it to this monument.
What to look for
-
The Seven Grey Stanes
The circle's other name counts seven stones. Eight survive, of a probable nine, so the local name has been undercounting the setting for as long as it has been in use.
-
An oval, not a circle
Easthill is a small oval rather than a true circle, and that shape is the point. Its proportions and its orientation tie it to the Twelve Apostles nearby and to the other large ovals of Dumfriesshire, making it a small member of a regional family rather than an isolated monument.
-
Small, but not different
The circle is considerably smaller than the others in that group. What links it to them is not scale but geometry — the same shape and the same alignment, executed at a fraction of the size.
-
Its position
The setting stands about three and three-quarter miles south-west of Dumfries, in the same stretch of country as the larger ovals it resembles.
-
The oval plan
The stones are set in an oval rather than a true circle, the form that ties the site to the other Dumfriesshire ovals.
-
Eight standing stones
Eight stones remain of a probable original nine, so a visitor can trace the surviving ring and the likely gap.
What is said
Folklore and tradition, recorded as what is said — not as established fact.
-
The Seven Grey Stanes
Local tradition holds that the circle is known as the Seven Grey Stanes, a name whose count of seven sits below the eight stones visible on the ground today.
Plan your visit
- Location
- 55.0477°N · 3.6929°W
- Access
- Open access
- Terrain
- Easy going
- Time needed
- About 45 minutes
Nearby places
Sacred place · Prehistoric
Pict's Knowe
Dumfries and Galloway
A small sandy bank rises out of the peat-covered valley of the Crooks Pow stream, four kilometres south-west of Dumfries, and it is on this slight…
- Easy path
Sacred place · Medieval
St Queran's Well
Dumfries and Galloway
St Queran’s Well preserves a continuing Scottish holy-well tradition, where coins, pins and ribbons have been offered from at least the nineteenth…
Sacred place · Prehistoric
Twelve Apostles Stone Circle
Dumfries and Galloway
Eleven stones stand in a rough ring on farmland between Holywood and Newbridge, a little north-west of Dumfries. Five are still earthfast; the rest…
- Near Newton Stewart
- Easy path
Sacred place · Medieval
Lincluden Collegiate Church
Dumfries and Galloway
Lincluden’s ruins record the transformation of Galloway’s first nunnery into a richly endowed collegiate church: a church staffed by a college of p…
- Near Newton Stewart
Questions people ask
- Why is Easthill stone circle also called the Seven Grey Stanes?
- The Seven Grey Stanes is a local name for the monument. The count of seven is a traditional name rather than a present tally, as eight stones remain visible at the site.
- How many stones survive at the circle?
- Eight stones remain, of a probable original nine.
- Where is Easthill stone circle?
- It stands about three and three-quarter miles south-west of Dumfries in Dumfries and Galloway, at grid reference NX91937388.
- How does the circle relate to the Twelve Apostles?
- Although much smaller, Easthill shares the oval shape and orientation of the nearby Twelve Apostles and the other large ovals of Dumfriesshire, linking it to the same local tradition.
- Is the site legally protected?
- Yes. Easthill stone circle is a scheduled monument.
Sources
The Ancient Codex, in your pocket
Get the Pocket Codex app
Carry the directory with you — Easthill stone circle and thousands of ancient places across Britain and Ireland, offline, wherever you roam.